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Fire hits vacant Grossinger’s hotel, once a Catskills jewel
August 18, 2022 3:54am Updated
A fire consumed a building at the site of the long-closed Grossinger’s resort, once among the most storied and glamorous hotels in New York’s Catskills.
In its heyday after World War II, Grossinger’s drew hundreds of thousands of vacationers a year, many of them Jewish. The resort had a 27-hole golf course, indoor and outdoor pools, a nightclub, two kosher kitchens and a 1,500-seat dining room. It drew crooners like Eddie Fisher and has been cited as an inspiration for the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.”
The fire broke out Tuesday evening in a three-and-half story building on the old hotel property. Firefighters who responded to the scene had to cut through a gate and were hampered by overgrowth and concrete barriers. An excavator knocked down the structure after the fire was out, according to a Facebook post by the Liberty Fire Department.
It was not immediately clear what the building had been used for, though Sullivan County Fire Coordinator John Hauschild said the main building was torn down about four years ago.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
The former 812-acre resort is about 80 miles north of New York City.
Fisher not only made his debut at Grossinger’s, but married fellow entertainer Debbie Reynolds there in 1955. Other big names to appear at the resort were Joel Grey and Leslie Uggams, as well as boxers Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey.
Grossinger’s operated for nearly 70 years before closing in 1986, suffering the fate of many local hotels after the region’s appeal faded. The site fell into disrepair amid efforts to redevelop it.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/18/new-yorks-grossingers-a-once-luxurious-resort-catches-on-fire/
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Aug 18 2022
Full Moon Perseids
The annual Perseid meteor shower was near its peak on August 13. As planet Earth crossed through streams of debris left by periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle meteors rained in northern summer night skies. But even that night's nearly Full Moon shining near the top of this composited view couldn't hide all of the popular shower's meteor streaks. The image captures some of the brightest perseid meteors in many short exposures recorded over more than two hours before the dawn. It places the shower's radiant in the heroic constellation of Perseus just behind a well-lit medieval tower in the village of Sant Llorenc de la Muga, Girona, Spain. Observed in medieval times, the Perseid meteor shower is also known in Catholic tradition as the Tears of St. Lawrence, and festivities are celebrated close to the annual peak of the meteor shower. Joining the Full Moon opposite the Sun, bright planet Saturn also shines in the frame at the upper right.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA’s Nicole Aunapu Mann set to become first Indigenous woman in space
August 17, 2022 10:07pm Updated
Come this fall, NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann will be the first Native American woman in space.
Mann will join NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission as the Dragon spacecraft commander, where she will be responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry, as well as a flight engineer, NASA announced earlier this month.
Mann, of Petaluma, California, is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in Northern California, according to Indian Country Today.
“It’s very exciting,” she told the outlet on becoming the first Indigenous woman in space. “I think it’s important that we communicate this to our community, so that other Native kids, if they thought maybe that this was not a possibility or to realize that some of those barriers that used to be there are really starting to get broken down.”
John Herrington, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, became the first Native American man to fly in space in 2002. He carried the nation’s flag and a traditional flute on his 13-day voyage.
Mann told ICT she plans to bring a dream catcher her mother gave her, as well as her wedding rings and surprise gifts her family is planning for her.
The expedition will be Mann’s first spaceflight since becoming an astronaut in 2013, when she was chosen as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class.
Mann is also a Colonel in the Marine Corps. She has numerous accolades to her name, including two Air Medals, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and the NASA 2015 Stephen D. Thorne Safety Award.
On the mission, Mann will be joined by fellow NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
The Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon Endurance spacecraft is scheduled to launch no earlier than Sept. 29 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/17/nasas-nicole-aunapu-mann-to-be-first-indigenous-woman-in-space/